Gentlemen: A quick " fessup".
December,10 2009.
I totaled my beloved 2005 Jeep Liberty. It was a freak accident, on an icy country road near me. I nose flipped it and it landed on its roof. The insurance company deemed it a total loss.

I just use the screen name, to prevent a hastle.
Long story, short, I replaced it with a used, high milage, Toyota Prius hatchback. It's great for garage sales, thrift shops and general chasing.
It's the first Japanese car I bought in 49 years, of owning a car or truck.
Absolutely no regrets.
I still have my other two American made vehicles.

Used to be my parents line of thinking...Until mom got a new '89 Chevy Baretta. That car was the worst lemon I've ever seen....

That car drove my Mom away from American cars too. She bought an '88 Baretta GT new. It lasted 74k miles and must have gone through four or five alternators and batteries in eight years. It also used to eat up those Eagle GT+4 tires. The last time I saw it before the motor locked up it was leaking fluids - all of them. She's owned two used Corollas since 1997 and they have both been great reliable cars.

That car drove my Mom away from American cars too. She bought an '88 Baretta GT new. It lasted 74k miles and must have gone through four or five alternators and batteries in eight years. It also used to eat up those Eagle GT+4 tires. The last time I saw it before the motor locked up it was leaking fluids - all of them. She's owned two used Corollas since 1997 and they have both been great reliable cars.

I never kept it a secret, that I don't like GM products.
I only owned one in 49 years and that was 42 years ago. That was another pig that leaked all the fluids, including the rear end.

I never kept it a secret, that I don't like GM products.
I only owned one in 49 years and that was 42 years ago. That was another pig that leaked all the fluids, including the rear end.

I've owned bad products from Ford, GM, and Chrysler Corp., as well as a couple of foreign builders. That alone would not keep me from buying another of their products, as I have also had very good cars from the same builders.

There is often a price you have to pay to drive the vehicle you want to. For example, if you want to drive a vintage British or Italian sports car, you'd better bring a set of tools and spare parts along with you, and also have a friend who is a good mechanic. For the most part, we accept that we have to make some sacrifices to own and drive the cars we like.

Currently, the Toyota van I bought new in 2006 (manufactured in Indiana) has been the most reliable and trouble-free vehicle I've ever owned. It just hit 110,000 miles on the odometer, and has needed nothing other than the routine scheduled maintenance. It often tows a 5 by 12 foot enclosed trailer to radio meets, estate sales, and auctions. And it still looks good. If I had parked my Geo (Suzuki) Metros or Dodge (Mitsubishi) Colts outdoors as long, they would have completely rusted away.

I got a 98 nissan 200sx 2 years ago for 600 bucks 180,000 miles.
It has a 120hp 1600 cc dohc 4 valve 4cyl fuel injected engine with a 5 speed stick.
6900 rpm redline goes pretty good if i rev it up a little - 2350 pound car.
It has 209,000 miles on it now.

All i have done to it is replace the brake light bulbs change the oil and rotate the tires.

Runs and drives perfect uses less than 1/4 quart of oil in 3000 miles.

I was going to buy a olds aurora that needed work but my dad saw the sx
On craigslist.

"" There is often a price you have to pay to drive the vehicle you want to. For example, if you want to drive a vintage British or Italian sports car, you'd better bring a set of tools and spare parts along with you, and also have a friend who is a good mechanic. For the most part, we accept that we have to make some sacrifices to own and drive the cars we like. ""

I agree with this..... And for me and the wife, its keeping her 408K mile Accord now that she may need a little more tlc now and then.

And we all make purchase decisions not only based on our own experience, but also based on the stories we hear from others, not knowing how they treated those items....

Used to be my parents line of thinking...Until mom got a new '89 Chevy Beretta. That car was the worst lemon I've ever seen. It had problems with the steering column right off the bat, electrical issues, and it was always having engine troubles. If we ever put in anything other than AMOCO mid-grade it would need a service within a week. That thing had blown an engine gasket by the time it turned 30K! The paint was going bad not long after it left warranty. It probably spent around a quarter of the time I rode in it in the local repair shop.

Meanwhile my uncles 80's Honda civic(I think it might have had the highway gearing option that gave it 60MPG highway) was doing fine at 100K without ever having had any service NOT EVEN AN OIL CHANGE!

It was obvious to my folks at this point who their next cars should come from.

Every few months I see a Baretta on the road and wonder what sort of witchcraft keeps what few of them remain in existence on the road. Those cars were starting to become scarce before Y2K!

I totally agree that 1989 was about the lowest point of GM's quality and bad engineering, and the Beretta was a good example of that. However, the other side of the coin is how many 1989 Toyota Tercels or Nissan Sentras do you still see today or that are running perfectly? My point is that the foreign makes are not immune from making lousy cars too, and I think Toyota has been guilty of it the last few years. They seem to be suffering from GM syndrome where they are the biggest now and think they can do no wrong.

Also, I agree with Username. You do often overlook faults of something you like. I guess we just hope other people do the same thing with us.

I look at things this way: if everything worked perfectly all the time, this wouldn't be a hobby.

Also, I agree with Username. You do often overlook faults of something you like. I guess we just hope other people do the same thing with us.

I look at things this way: if everything worked perfectly all the time, this wouldn't be a hobby.

A lot of truth there. I traded in my 2009 Scion xB for my 07 Cadillac DTS. The DTS won't get the 32 MPG highway 26 city, it won't go for a bazillion miles without a complaint, and it won't shrug off muddy kids with a little wipedown.

But the Scion wasn't a Cadillac

__________________
"Restoring a tube TV is like going to war. A color one is like a land war in Asia."

A lot of truth there. I traded in my 2009 Scion xB for my 07 Cadillac DTS. The DTS won't get the 32 MPG highway 26 city, it won't go for a bazillion miles without a complaint, and it won't shrug off muddy kids with a little wipedown.

But the Scion wasn't a Cadillac

Ain't THAT the Truth...I'm a Lincoln man, but I know/understand fully/Agree COMPLETELY with yr sentiments..

A lot of truth there. I traded in my 2009 Scion xB for my 07 Cadillac DTS. The DTS won't get the 32 MPG highway 26 city, it won't go for a bazillion miles without a complaint, and it won't shrug off muddy kids with a little wipedown.

But the Scion wasn't a Cadillac

The Scion Xb has been on my want list for a long time, the early ones were cavernous inside, perfect for hauling TV's and the mileage in outstanding.

Since my second vehicle needs are fairly minimal these days the old Aerostar is sufficient, and it's paid for, actually it was "Free", it was my Dads and I got it after he died because I had rebuilt the engine in it, though the job had never been completed and the crackhead he hired to swap engines screwed it up royally.
Would you believe he forgot to install the timing cover gasket. and that was the most minor of his mistakes.

My "Free" van ultimately cost about $1600 to put on the road (including $400 in DMV fees because Dad didn't fill out a non-op slip ), but it pretty much has new everything and it's fairly Lux, with power windows & locks, three row seating, P/S, dual zone A/C, AM/FM with rear controls, limited slip differential (not functional since the clutches are worn out but oh well, it never Snows here).